93 THE GRAPE CULTURIST. 



MANURES AND THEIR APPLICATION. 



The quantity of manure required by an acre, to fit it to 

 produce a strong and healthy growth of vine, can not be 

 known until the fact has been ascertained by actual experi- 

 ment upon each individual piece of land, and the vineyard- 

 ist only can be the judge in the matter. But it is always 

 best to be on the safe side and put on enough, because the 

 vine will soon exhaust the surplus if any ; while if too little 

 is given, a complete failure may be the result. As vines 

 seldom starve to death the first season, although their 

 growth may be small and weak, if supplied with a sufficient 

 quantity of the proper fertilizers the second year, they 

 may not only live but finally become strong and produc- 

 tive, at a loss to the cultivator of a year's growth, the pen- 

 alty for his ignorance or negligence. 



In all sandy, gravelly, and light-loam soils there is 

 usually a want of organic materials, and that want must 

 be supplied by applying muck, leaves, leaf-mold from the 

 woods, sods, or barnyard manure, or it may be supplied 

 by growing clover or some other similar crop and turning 

 it under while green. "When muck or leaves are used, it 

 is best to compost them with barnyard manure. This 

 may be done by spreading the materials over the barn- 

 yard a foot deep, and then spread the manure over it and 

 let the cattle tread it in ; and when the manure has accumu- 

 lated to the depth of six inches, spread on another foot, and 

 so until it is three or four feet deep ; then it should all be 

 forked over and mixed together. If the whole is under 

 cover it is better ; but it is not very essential, unless manure 

 is very scarce and vuluable. The muck absorbs all the 

 liquid portions of the manure and prevents waste, and a 

 compost of three fourths muck or of the other materials 

 named and one fourth barnyard manure is more valuable 

 for a light soil than if the whole amount were barnyard 



o 



manure. 



